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TIL that China's 17th-century Tianqi Emperor suffered from a learning disаbility, and was illiterаte. However, he was an outstanding carpenter and craftsman, spending vast amounts of time on woodworking, and he instructed his servаnts to sell his creations undercоver, to see how much they were worth

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awm1A TIL Queen Elizabeth II specifically asked to be in a James Bond skit with Daniel Craig for the Olympics, breaking royal protocol. When asked if she would like to say something she said, "Of course I must say something. After all, he is coming to rescue me."
XEwlX TIL that Ozzy Osbourne spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison when he was unable to pay a fine after being found guilty of burgling a clothes shop; to teach his son a lesson, his father refused to pay the fine
V7RZ TIL that Eddie Vedder wrote ‘Jeremy’ after reading a brief newspaper article about a 15-year-old boy in Texas who brought a gun to class and shot himself, in front of his teacher and thirty students. Vedder wanted to show how even such a dramatic gesture would only get a few words in the daily news.
XymR TIL that in 1982 a scientist discovered an ‘impossible’ structure of matter and was universally mocked by the scientific community. In 2011, Dr. Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
PvQO TIL I learned that Bob Marley once said “The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?” after armed gunmen attacked his home two days before giving a free concert called “Smile Jamaica”